Smart homes are becoming an increasingly more ubiquitous part of our lives and more people are leveraging at least aspects of smart home technology if not making entire homes smart and automated. As with any piece of technology, hackers are finding ways to infiltrate smart home controls and wreak havoc on your devices, steal personal information, and even take control.
That said, there are some smart home tips to keep hackers and thieves out of your hair. Here are our smart home safety tips.
Secure Your WiFi Router
Your internet router is the gateway into your smart home. It is the hub and holds the key to accessing any of your smart home devices. This means that anyone who can get into your router can get into your smart home and therefore potentially your personal information, credit cards, and control your devices.
If you’re using your service provider’s router, then be sure to either have the installing technician set up a name with a secure password or change it yourself. Similarly, if you’re using an aftermarket router, be sure to change the name from the default. A default router name can give savvy hackers a clue as to what model number your router is and therefore a way to get in.
Keep Passwords Mutually Exclusive
Not only should you change the name of your router, but you should create an encrypted, complex password that only you and your family members know. Additionally, keep your WiFi password completely separate and different from any of your smart home devices or accounts.
If a hacker can access your router with a common password, then they can definitely access the rest of your devices or accounts with no problem. That said, make sure that your passwords remain mutually exclusive from one another and keep all of your account passwords unique.
Check Privacy and Security Settings
Most smart home device manufacturers take privacy and security very seriously, and most default their devices to generally secure settings that must be changed by the user. However, it’s worth going through your smart device apps and see exactly what kind of access those apps and other users have to your devices.
Most importantly, change any settings that you’re unsure of or do some research into what exactly they mean. Additionally, make sure that any changes to your account give you a notification in case someone hacks into or manipulates your smart devices or adds users to your home. Finally, disable any app or device features you won’t use or don’t need.
Be Wary of Suspicious Activity
Smart home hackers are smart themselves which means they may make subtle changes to your smart devices that you wouldn’t otherwise notice. Things such as abnormal routines, strange search results, and seemingly glitchy behavior from your devices could mean that someone has access to your devices.
Continuously monitor any changes and look into any suspicious smart home behavior. When in doubt, change your passwords to both your smart devices and your WiFi router and enable two-step authentication to prevent someone from accessing your devices or resetting your passwords.
Secure Your New Home
Securing a new home is a bit of a challenge within itself. With new quirks, a new home comes with some smart home security hurdles. You can rest peacefully knowing that you’ve got the right mortgage for you and your family by visiting Tidewater Mortgage Services, Inc.
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